Curt, Sorry, but I think you've been listening to Chicken Licken. I doubt that it'll actually happen, but if the fairness doctrine were reestablished today, it wouldn't cause radio stations to abandon talk. In fact, both liberal and conservative views were on the air while the fairness doctrine was in effect. You seem to be especially concerned that conservative talk would be threatened, but look at history, not propaganda, and you'll find that conservative talk radio and the fairness doctrine coexisted well. In L.A. alone, (the major market I know best), in the 60s you had Joe Pyne Ray Briem and Bob Grant on radio and George Putnam, Sam Yorty, Wally George and Bob Dornan were all on TV while the fairness doctrine was in place. Programs like Dr. Stewart McBurney's Voice of Americanism and Lifeline, a conservatively based religious program funded by, and spreading the views of H.L. Hunt also came into being during the fairness-doctrine years. Opposing the fairness doctrine is your choice, of course. But when we talk about such things, it pays to view a policy in historical context to see if dire predictions will really hold up. Every city I can think of had a wide spectrum of opinion on the air, and talk was number one in Los Angeles and San Francisco for two decades before the abolition of the fairness doctrine. This is something you can research for yourself. Whether it comes from the left or the right, I think the public is getting tired of apologists on the air who don't evaluate leaders and policies objectively. I think that talk radio has more to fear from itself than from any outside source. Radio and TV aren't the only games in town anymore. I believe that in the coming years, if radio continues to emphasize controversy for its own sake and employ hosts who never question the politicians and parties they support, _that'll( be what marginalizes talk radio as a format. -- Rick
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